


Thorns

by alistairweekend



Series: Jeirey Tabris [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:51:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3420023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alistairweekend/pseuds/alistairweekend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair realizes his feelings for Jeirey and decides to act on them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thorns

Jeirey smiled when he talked to her. She was the only person he knew who did that. All his life, people had shrugged him off or rolled their eyes when Alistair had something to say, so he had been taken by surprise when this elven girl he hardly knew gave him her full attention whenever he spoke. Despite having met once as children in Redcliffe castle, they were, of course, different people, so their meeting as Grey Wardens was quite a surprise, but a fresh start as well.

As of late he began to look at her face more closely when they talked. Her lips reminded him of a plum when they curved, plump and colored a deep purple. When she laughed — and she laughed quite a bit when he talked to her, which made Alistair pleased beyond words — her mouth did a little thing where one side lifted more than the other. The laughter was sweet but almost always stifled, and at first Alistair was puzzled at why she would feel the need to hold back until he remembered her background as a servant and then a resident of Denerim’s alienage.

She claimed she held no grudge against humans, but she was clearly weary around them. Her eyes, the green of leaves in the summer and large even by elven standards, struggled to maintain contact with most humans she spoke to, but Alistair could tell she was trying. She was certainly better than when their journey had first started, no longer flinching when someone caught her even the slightest bit off guard or stammering when talking to strangers. He wanted to help her, to ask her questions and understand and make it easier for her. But there was the fear that he would be seen as too prying.

In the months that he had spent with her on their impossible quest, Alistair liked to think they had become friends. Jeirey made him feel at ease with her smiles and laughter and genuine _interest_  in what he had to say, and no one had ever had that effect on him aside from Duncan. And even that had been different — Duncan wasn’t nearly as pretty as Jeirey. Alistair would be lying if he said he hadn’t entertained the thought of what it would be like to hold Jeirey’s hand, play with her dark hair, kiss those soft lips. But when such thoughts entered his mind his cheeks inevitably flushed and his mind panicked, driving him to practically hide from Jeirey until it stopped and praying to the Maker himself that she wouldn’t notice.

However, the thoughts were occurring more often, and the idea that he might be falling for his friend crossed his mind. It was an odd and rather terrifying notion, and yet at the same time it seemed  _right_. The problem was, did she feel the same way?

He had asked Leliana and Wynne for advice concerning a nondescript woman, attempting to be subtle. Evidently he wasn’t successful, because he always had to cut off the conversation in a flustered hurry when they came too close to guessing that the hypothetical girl was Jeirey. In fact, Alistair began to doubt they were even guessing; both their tones had been heavy with suppressed amusement. It made him feel a little nauseus to consider he was so transparent. What if Jeirey had picked up on it? Or worse, what if Leliana or Wynne had told her? If that was the case, the fact that Jeirey was continuing to act normal around him was absolutely nerve-wracking. Alistair had to do something. Rejection straight to his face would be better than this.

Wynne had suggested he give his assuredly not-real-girl a gift. And so Alistair found himself standing at the edge of camp, twiddling a flower in his hands and staring nervously at Jeirey, who was sitting with Leliana by the fire. They were talking and giggling and he involuntarily smiled, until his nerves hit him again and he came to a rather irrational conclusion that if he botched this up, she might not laugh like that around him ever again. The mere thought nearly made him chuck the flower into the woods, but suddenly Leliana stood to leave and Alistair knew this was the perfect opportunity.

Steeling himself, Alistair clenched the rose in his hand, put it behind his back, and approached Jeirey.

**Author's Note:**

> It's mentioned that Alistair and Jeirey met once at Redcliffe Castle when they were children. Obviously, Jeirey's background does not completely match the game's canon story for Tabris. If you'd like to learn more about Jeirey's backstory, you can find more info on her [here](http://alistairweekend.tumblr.com/wardens).
> 
> If you'd like to read the account of Jeirey and Alistair's very first meeting, my friend [ladynorbert](http://ladynorbert.tumblr.com) on tumblr wrote the scene for me [here](http://ladynorbert.tumblr.com/post/111035875469/the-lost-boy).


End file.
